Rosy Knight
by Dragonscries
Summary: Ruby and Jaune are both in trouble. Ruby ran faster than light, crashed, and is now inhabiting the past body of her friend. Jaune collapsed in the street, and is now hearing a voice that claims to be his friend from the future. How much of the timeline will be changed? On hiatus until I get some ideas.
1. Time Travel

**Hi! I had this idea brewing for a while. This story was inspired by Yui Sinon's Scattering Time and Space. Also thanks to my Chemistry teacher, who taught me nuclear chemistry, which helped me come up with this idea. Nuclear/aura fusion at its finest. Enjoy!**

 **Sorry for the people who read this while there was weird code. Thanks to Grano Onis for pointing it out.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. If I did, I would make a pokemon x rwby crossover, and make Lucario OP. Huh, that's a good idea...**

* * *

A white blur streaked through the Grimmlands.

It was Ruby Rose.

Salem was gone. Slain by Ruby herself. No more schemes. No more underground wars. Beacon could be rebuilt. But...

But...

Salem's last act was to infuse large amounts of negative power into the pools surrounding her castle. As a result, as Ruby dashed by, a large multitude of Grimm rose out of the dark pools. Furthermore, years into the future - centuries, even, Salem would return. This was Salem's last plan - finish off the last silver-eyed warrior, so there wouldn't be any left for her return centuries later. That was why Ruby had to survive. She was glad that she had visited the Grimmlands alone. There was no way anyone else could have escaped this final deathtrap.

 _Faster..._

The blur narrowed in shape. Fire blazed behind her. Ruby focused on the images of teams RWBY and JNPR - even Pyrrha, despite her death. Their smiling faces, waiting for her to come back.

 _Faster..._

The blur narrowed once more, becoming close to line-shaped, as shining streaks of silver followed. A blast of wind followed it, destroying the Grimm caught in the gust as the g-forces ripped them apart. A Geist appeared, possessive a large array of rocks, for just a second. As Ruby rushed by, the rocks scattered, the Geist gone. Pain bloomed over her entire body, before it rapidly disappeared.

 _Faster!_

With a boom, Ruby felt the world collapsed around her. She slowed down, surprised. When she did so, the world reappeared around her. It was different. It was a city - familiar, yet all the cities she'd been to had either fallen to the Grimm or had been severely damaged. Here though - this city was intact. Bustling. She tried to slow down, rushing down the streets as she bled off speed. She didn't decelerate fast enough, and for a split second, she saw a boy crossing the street right before her.

A familiar blonde figure with blue eyes, standing right in front of her.

They crashed.

* * *

Jaune Arc was going to Signal Academy.

He had to.

It was his last chance - all the other high-school level combat schools had rejected him. Signal was his only hope - the school accepted applications and gave results last, and he _had_ to get in if he wanted to be the hero.

So if he had to get in, why was he sitting in front of his scroll, staring at a mostly blank page?

The truth was, he had nothing good.

The scroll read: "Notable Achievements, Activities, and Skills." Unfortunately, Jaune didn't have any - were cooking and sewing were necessary skills for Huntsmen? He leaned back in his wooden chair, letting his scroll lay flat on his desk. His bed was right next to him, so he stood up and laid down on it, staring at the white ceiling. No point in stressing out, he reasoned. It's already submitted.

Across the room from his desk was a bookshelf, and between the bookshelf and his desk was a window showing the paved road and the sinking sun - had he sat there for that long? And across the room from the window was his closet.

His parents had bought a large, two-story house in the urban section of Mistral, despite being rich and famous enough to afford a mansion. When Jaune's little (5th) sister, Lydia, had asked them why, they had said that they didn't want to flaunt their wealth.

Jaune's parents were overprotective. Although they told stories of how his great-grandfather fought in the war, and many other stories, they only taught him the basics of using a sword and shield. They always said, "With all the new technology, robots will replace Huntsmen! There's no need." and "It's a dangerous world out there. We don't want you to get hurt." Jaune, however, wasn't about to give up on his dream. After arguing for days, he had finally gotten them to give him a chance - if he could get accepted into a combat school, they would pay for the expenses. He would learn how to become a hero.

That was why Jaune found himself laying on his bed, stressing over his application to Signal. He was thankful for the silence in the house. Three of his sisters no longer lived in the house. Two were at their respective friends' houses, and the last two had gone out with his parents to go shopping.

With a groan, he stood. He stumbled for a bit. Ever since he had inexplicably collapsed after being hit by a white cloak with red on the inside in the middle of the street last week, he had been feeling off and had thought he heard whispering. His parents had rushed him to the hospital, but apparently, nothing had been wrong. His "Aura," whatever it was, had "unlocked" itself somehow. The doctors mentioned some strange anomalies, but Jaune had seemed healthy and was let off. He didn't feel fine though - he found himself gazing at Crocea Mors mounted in the living room more often, and sometimes, he would catch himself thinking about cookies and milk. The cloak had been given to him since no one claimed it. The staff had been about to throw it out, but Jaune stopped them. He didn't know why - some sort of feeling, attachment, that made throwing the cloak away an unfathomable idea.

Snatching his Pumpkin Pete hoodie from beside the cloak from the closet, and putting them on over his T-shirt, he quickly scribbled a note to his parents before leaving the house, double-checking the lock. Perhaps a walk would do him some good. Maybe check out the bookstore to see if there was anything good. With his mind set, Jaune went off.

He waved at a few former classmates. After all, if he succeeded in getting into Signal, he wouldn't be seeing them anytime soon. He crossed the street, and entered a single-floor building with a double-eaved roof (AN: Japanese-style roof) - the bookstore, "Stories and Fairy-tales: a Bookstore.

The store was rather small. Racks lined the perimeter, and a few more filled the space in the middle. The counter was behind one row of shelves, and behind that was presumably the storage area - it was walled off, so he wouldn't know! On the counter was a bell to call for assistance.

Jaune stepped over to the comics section, browsing for the latest issues of his favorite series, X-Ray and Vav. He stood, browsing, and eventually moved on to the magazine section, eyes settling on "Weapon Masters: Greatest of Them All." He must have stood there for a couple of minutes leafing through the magazine when he heard a scream.

Glancing out the window, he saw the shop across the street being robbed. A man in all black, wearing a tuxedo like he was going to a fancy party, smoked a pipe, yelled something about money. He pointed a small handgun at the shopkeeper, who was hurriedly putting all of the money in the cashier into a bag labeled "Dust Off" - the name of the store. Bystanders milled around. Jaune frowned. The thief would probably get away. Scenes like this were common in Mistral, with the amount of thieves and mercenaries around (see author's notes below). If you stood by and did nothing, you wouldn't get hurt. That was the way things went here. So much for being a hero.

 _'Help him!'_

Jaune spun around, convinced he heard someone. But to his surprise, no one stood there - just empty air.

 _'You can do it!'_

"Stop that!" He tried to return to the magazine. Apparently, the whispering had evolved into a voice.

 _'Kick his butt!'_

"Shut up!" he cried. The shopkeeper hurriedly appeared behind the counter, having heard him. "Anything you need help with, kid?"

"No," Jaune grumbled. He then sighed. "Sorry. Just stressed." He looked out the window. The shopkeeper followed his gaze.

"Ah. Zwart. Small thief. He robs stores in this area all the time and only does so when there aren't any cops nearby. I've been robbed by him more times than I can count. Heard that he's trying to catch the eye of one of the major gangs. Can only hope some Huntsman or Huntress gets to him first."

Jaune looked back at Zwart. He was upset that he couldn't stop Zwart, couldn't be the hero. He barely had any training, and he definitely would get his butt kicked if he went in and fought.

 _'Not with me here! You heard the old man. Zwart isn't connected to any large groups yet! He's just a small criminal! Go and kick his butt!'_

Jaune stopped walking all of a sudden, finding himself already twisting the doorknob to go outside. He frowned. What? The voice could possess him?

 _'If you won't do it, then let me do it!'_

"Stop that," he whispered. Then he thought for a moment. He had heard a voice inside his head. The shopkeeper didn't seem to notice it, still reading a magazine of some sort. If this was the case, maybe the voice was a manifestation of his subconscious or something?

 _'I'm not a manifestation of your subconscious! I'm a real person! And from the future! My name is Ruby Rose! And I'm telling you to stop Zwart from ruining that shop!"_

Jaune opened the door. Nope.

 _'I stopped a robbery at the age of 15!'_

Even if that actually happened, Jaune was 13. No way. He turned down the street to walk home.

 _'That shop may end up in enough debt that it'll have to close!'_

Jaune kept walking. Still no.

 _'If you won't do it for the sake of doing the right thing, at least do it for the sake of every shopkeeper on this street!'_

Jaune paused. He did like the shops on this street. He even knew some of the shopkeepers. And he had seen on television how in the past, some thieves had been taken down by teenagers. Once. Or Twice. He groaned and picked up a broken bottle off the side of the street, probably left by one of the many gangs.

When had he started caring?

* * *

Zwart smirked. Another day, another robbery. Some day, the Black Death would notice him. They'd ask him to join their ranks. He would follow his father's steps and becomes a master thief. He'd-

"-Stand there and get hit by a broken bottle?"

"Wha-"

The bottle smashed into his face. His aura flared, preventing any actual injuries from occurring. He glared at the attacker, a young, 12- or 13-year old blonde boy. The boy gulped.

"Can I take that back?"

Zwart glared. "No."

Zwart raised his gun and fired, aiming at the boy's armed hand and his feet. He was a thief, after all, not a murderer. To his surprise, the boy dropped the glass and rolled backward, the bullets hitting nothing. The boy dodged behind a shelf, and Zwart's metal bullets ('cause Dust bullet would ignite all the dust around it) pierced it, shredding it into a bunch of splintered wood and long metal poles.

Jaune breathed heavily as the dust (with a lowercase d) filled the air. For whatever reason, he wasn't panicking. That and his unharmed condition had to be the only good things happening. A piece of metal landed on his side, and he picked it up. It was long, long enough to be a staff. Probably came from the ruined shelf. A piece of wood stuck out at the end of it, making it look kind of like Crescent Rose-

Jaune blinked, and the red-black scythe became a simple metal rod with wood at the end. Where had those thoughts come from?

"Come on out, little boy. We have a lot to discuss."

Jaune edged away from where he knew Zwart was. Taking care not to crush anything beneath his feet or make any sound, he crawled around, trying to get behind Zwart. There he was! Zwart stood in the middle of an aisle. Parts of the damaged shelf lay behind him. Jaune noted that one section was large enough to hide him, and was perfectly situated to ambush Zwart from. Unfortunately, if he ran to it, Zwart would see him, and the element of surprise would be lost. He gritted his teeth.

 _ **'Just do it'**_

In the heat of the moment, with adrenaline rushing through his body, he obeyed before realizing what he was doing. It was too late though. Zwart had seen him! He was coming - he could hear his footsteps, hear his breathing, hear-

Hear him stopping?

Zwart reached down, picking something off the floor. "What's this? A petal? I thought you were manlier than-"

 _'Now! Attack him now!'_

Springing from his spot behind the ruined shelf, he swung his sorta-scythe downward. It smashed into Zwart's head as Zwart bent over, but once again, Zwart's aura protected him. Instead of being knocked out, Zwart found himself smashed to the floor, gun flying out of his hand. As Jaune lifted his scythe-thingy, Zwart rolled back. He spat out his pipe and a bit of blood, and Jaune watched as the mouthpiece shot out, forming a staff. Zwart twirled it.

"Alright boy. I'm gonna give you such a beating; your momma isn't gonna recognize you."

 _'Isn't he a ray of sunshine?'_

"Shut up," Jaune said, both to the voice and to Zwart. He dashed forward, swinging his scythe down like it was natural - and to Jaune, it was. Zwart blocked the blow, both hands on his staff, so Jaune swung the scythe around, the back end shooting upward-

Right between Zwart's legs.

Zwart crumpled as Jaune followed up a series of bashes and hits, only stopping when he heard a fizzing sound. There were loud sirens outside, and a police officer rushed in, handgun out.

 _'Don't the police have fantastic timing?'_

"Drop that weapon! Put your hands where we can see them!"

* * *

Jaune leaned back in his seat. He was in an interrogation room, and his interrogator had yet to arrive. Thus, he sat alone, with only a desk and another chair to keep him company.

 _'And me!'_

And the voice that probably was a byproduct of his insanity.

 _'You're not insane!'_

Don't all insane people tell themselves that?

In the middle of Jaune's mental conversation, the door opened. A man with short, gray hair walked in, wearing a white shirt, gray pants, and a gray jacket. His auburn eyes peered at Jaune.

"Well!" He cried, causing Jaune to jump in his seat. "Don't we have quite the lad here!"

"Umm..."

 _'Don't be so tense! The guy can't hurt you without breaking the law.'_

That doesn't help much!

"I saw the footage. Taking down a professional criminal with only what you could scavenge! Astounding!" He leaned over to Jaune, who was quickly becoming uncomfortable. "Where in the blazes were you taught to do that?!"

"Errr... I wasn't?" Jaune tentatively asked. He could feel the voice's disapproval.

 _'Really? Do you think he's going to believe that you took a criminal down with no training?'_

"Amazing!" the man cried as he straightened his back. "You must be quite talented."

 _'I stand corrected.'_

"Nevertheless, I must ask you a question. Who are you?"

"Um. Jaune. Jaune Arc."

"ARC!" his voice boomed, making Jaune jump again. "I knew your father, lad. A fine warrior! Why, I taught him myself! I see that your talent must have come from him!" Jaune merely chuckled.

"Yeah..."

"It's not common for people to stand up to the criminals here in Mistral. Even less common is when people actual succeed! So," He leaned forward once again. "Why did you do it?"

Jaune gulped. "Would you believe me if I said... a voice in my head told me to?"

The man nodded. "I see. Your parents raised you well. It is clear that you understand mankind's moral duties." He waved his hands around toward the end of his comment. Jaune got the feeling that their ideas of "voice in my head told me to help others" were different, but he'd rather not be labeled as insane (ignoring the voice saying _'You're not insane!'_ ). "You have your heart in the right place. Do you know who I am?"

"No?"

"NO?!" the man exclaimed. "I would have thought your parents would have talked about me!" Jaune cocked his head.

"Aunt Clara?" he could feel the voice snickering in his head. The man's mouth fell open before he regained control.

"I," he proclaimed, "am Professor Wolfsbane. The headmaster at Sanctum Academy." Jaune blinked.

"Oh."

Wolfsbane raised an eyebrow, then burst out laughing. "Not only do you display great combat prowess, you are quite a laugh!" He grinned at Jaune. "The Huntsmen forces could use a Huntsman like you. Have you applied to any of the combat schools?" Jaune shifted nervously in his seat.

"Yes? It's just," he fiddled with his fingers. "I got rejected by each of them. I applied to Signal, and haven't heard back since all of their enrollment and registration dates are the latest..." Wolfsbane nodded.

"Rejected? Never fear! Though I cannot accept you into Sanctum, seeing as our slots are all full, I shall put in a good word for you at Signal!" He patted Jaune on the back. "You did well, lad. I'll enjoy hearing your exploits. You're free to go." He walked out, and Jaune followed. On his way out, Wolfsbane paused at the front desk of the police station and began filling some forms out. Jaune stopped as well, but Wolfsbane waved him forward.

"Go on, lad! I believe your parents are here already! Shame that I shall be too busy to talk to them. I trust you will explain everything?" Jaune nodded, smiled, and stepped out the station, and into a parking lot. As soon as he did, he saw his father approach and hug him.

"You're back! What happened, son?" Jaune continued smiling.

"Dad? I think I'm gonna be accepted into Signal."

* * *

 **As a side note, Mistral is well known for the amount of mercenaries and thieves, as well as the size of the black market, according to the "World of Remnant."**

 **Zwart means black in Dutch, hence following the color rule. I is smart. I definitely did not use Google Translate. jk :)**

 **The idea of the story is that Ruby went back in time, but crashed into Jaune and is now a part of Jaune's soul/aura, sorta like Ozpin was inside Oscar.**


	2. Leaving Home

**Some notes that I forgot to put in the last chapter:**

 **Wolfsbane was meant to follow the same trend as Lionheart. Lionheart probably fears Salem, which is why he works for her. Hence, he's the opposite of a lion (or at least, not quite lion-y). Wolfsbane was based off the wolf, and which are supposed to be evil, quiet (for the most part) and cunning. Hence why Wolfsbane came out loud, honest, and boisterous.**

 **I'm avoiding talking too much about Jaune's family, cause we have no information as of volume 4 about their names and stuff. We only know they were a caring family, and there were 7 sisters.**

 **Jaune's going to Signal cause we don't know much about Sanctum, only that Pyrrha was there. At Signal, we get to see Ruby and Yang, along with Professors Qrow and Tai.**

 **Answers to Reviews:**

 **runelt99 - Not quite sure if there's going to be romance - very little of this story is planned. As of now, the origins of the Grimm, Jaune's semblance, going to Beacon, and the Beacon teams are the only thing I have planned. Ruby, Jaune, and I all aren't romantic people. They _will_ at least be close friends. Definitely some fluff. As for your suggestion, most of this chapter was written when I got your review. Sorry! I'll see if I can add something like that in a later chapter - Jaune flirting with past-Ruby to embarrass future-Ruby is a great idea. :)**

 **Scotius - I've never seen any tinkerbell related stuff. Embarrassing as it is, disney world scared me when I was little. I have yet to go to any disney park. :)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. If I did, "Ren" would be Ren's first name, not last.**

 _'Mental speech'_

"Regular speech"

* * *

Jaune sat in his seat on the airship, determined not to look outside. Though his motion sickness was not as bad as before, he didn't want to risk looking outside and throwing up. He leaned back, focusing on the seat in front of him. He was alone. Well, sort of. He wasn't really alone, but there wasn't anyone else he knew on the ship.

 _'Except me!'_

Jaune groaned. The voice had followed him from his fight with Zwart, and had been there. All. The. Time.

With all that had happened, with beating Zwart, receiving his acceptance letter from Signal, and scrambling for the stuff he needed to live on Patch, he had had a lot on his hands. Since Signal was on Patch, his parents had agreed to rent a place for him. His sisters had all come home to see him off ("My wittle brother's all grown up!""Lemme go!") and his parents had been proud, if not a little sad ("You'll write to us and visit on holidays, won't you son?""Dad, stop hugging me... need... air..."). With everything happening, he hadn't paid very much attention to the voice. Now that he was on the airship though... why had it appeared in his head?

 _'Not telling you!'_

 _'Why not?'_

 _'Cause guessing games are fun!'_

Jaune felt a strange feeling of joy wash over him. He squashed it when he realized they weren't his own emotions. He at least needed _some_ confirmation that he wasn't insane. Or having mood swings.

 _'How would I do that?'_

 _'Predict something ahead of time?'_

 _'Ok! My sister's also going to be attending Signal with you! Her name's Yang! Yang Xiao Long!'_

 _'Maybe predict some more stuff, just to make sure it wasn't a coincidence?'_

 _'You magically learned how to use a pole-arm weapon overnight. What more proof do you need?'_

 _'Still need proof.'_

 _'Fine! My uncle and dad are teachers there! Qrow and Tai! And younger me'll be coming to Signal in two years!'_

Jaune closed his eyes, pushing down his motion sickness. Time to wait and see if the predictions came true.

 _'Oh no. You're not getting away. We have to discuss what you're allowed to show off, and what you're not.'_

 _'Why?'_

 _'Cause it would be strange if you mastered the scythe out of nowhere. Plus, I learned my style from Uncle Qrow. Since he's a teacher, you'll be seeing him around, and he'll definitely recognize the similarities.'_

Jaune snorted. Not like it would matter. He had only brought Crocea Mors with him as his weapon, and it was nothing like a scythe.

 _'That may be, but students at Signal forge their own weapons. You'll probably be given the stuff needed to give Crocea Mors a nice upgrade, which should probably include a Crescent Rose form. You can't be completely incompetent, since Mr. Wolfsbane was kind enough to recommend you, and his reputation will take a hit if you turn out useless.'_

Great, more pressure for Jaune. Why doesn't she tell him that the weight of the world rests on his shoulders next?

 _'It kinda does. You end up playing an important role in an upcoming war.'_

Wonderful. He looked out the window. His mistake.

* * *

Jaune ran down the ramp from the airship, throwing up in the nearest trash can and ignoring Ruby's laughter.

He grabbed his luggage from security, providing his school ID, and walked down the streets, looking for his house. 13579 Silver Elm Road was the address he was given.

Seriously though. How'd "Ruby" found her way into his head?

 _'Not saying!'_

 _'Please?'_ Jaune begged.

 _'Only if you promise to buy some cookies. And milk.'_

 _'That's it?'_

 _'Well, yeah. I'm just messing with you. Was gonna tell you anyway.'_

Jaune's eye twitched.

 _'Don't be like that!'_

Jaune grumbled some things to himself, earning some looks from the other people on the street.

 _'Well, to begin, I was running very fast.'_

Jaune could run fast too.

 _'Pfft, I mean, my semblance lets me burst into rose petals and run at super-fast speeds.'_

 _'...What's a semblance?'_

 _'You don't- oh. Right. You always were kinda clueless.'_ For a moment, Jaune saw the image of a young woman in a black and red combat skirt scratching her head.

Was Ruby insulting him? And she was able to send images too?

 _'Riiiiight. A semblance is sorta like a super power. It's powered by our aura, the manifestation of our souls. Without a semblance though, aura just sorta acts like a force-field. The Grimm don't have either an aura or a semblance.'_

So that was why Jaune hadn't gotten hurt, despite the bullets and rubble flying around in his fight.

 _'Yup! I was using my semblance and was 'supercharging' it with another ability of mine. I apparently broke the world or something, 'cause I found myself running through Mistral, trying to slow down. Still not completely sure what happened. Probably should have paid more attention in physics class at Signal, instead of playing cookie clicker. The weird thing though, was that where I'm from, Mistral was attacked and was trying to recover.'_

Oh. That was why Ruby claimed to be from the future. That, and she probably recognized some things from the past. Jaune wondered, what could bring down a kingdom?

 _'Salem.'_ Ruby's voice was serious, much different from her teasing, fun-filled voice from earlier.

 _'Who?'_

 _'Basically, there was a lot of manipulation involved. A traitor. He gradually weakened Mistral's defenses. Then a woman named Salem arranged an attack, and Mistral was only saved because a bunch of unofficial Huntsmen and Huntresses, me and you included, showed up. No one expected us there, since we were unofficial and all._

 _Back to where I was before. Mistral looked different, I was running, and I was trying to slow down.'_ Her voice lost some of the seriousness, returning to normal. _'You crossed the street, I crashed into you, our auras merged from the extreme speed, and voila! A possessed Jaune! Of course, I was knocked out for a bit. Two, three days? That's usually how long it takes for aura-linked people to start hearing voices. And yeah, there's been a case like this (see author's note below). After that, I was trying to put the pieces together. But when I saw Zwart robbing that store, I had to get you to jump in.'  
_

Jaune sighed, turning a corner as his scroll displayed a map. He dragged his single suitcase along. Although he attracted some looks, he'd probably attract a lot more if he started talking to himself.

 _'Sorry. But there's a lot we have to do, if we don't want Vale in ruins, Mistral in pieces, Atlas under siege, or Vacuo in a civil war.'_

Jaune kept walking. If Ruby was really from the future, shouldn't there be someone to pass her information to, and let them handle it?

 _'No.'_

 _'Why not?'_

 _'The only people that I trust and are able to do anything are Ozpin and Uncle Qrow. Unfortunately, though I believe in Ozpin, he is too trusting of others. He believes in second chances, third chances, fourth chances, so on. While we could go to Uncle Qrow, there isn't much he can do. He_ can _do stuff, like keeping an eye out on missions, but not a lot._ _We can reveal ourselves to Qrow, which will take care of the problem of him figuring out our fighting style, but we'll still have some stuff to do. We reveal ourselves to Ozpin only if the situation is dire.'_

 _'Sure.'_ He decided to humor her for now.

 _'Alright! Hey, isn't that your apartment?'_

* * *

Jaune walked around the room. The apartment came with a living room, a kitchen, and a bedroom. The living room had a sofa, seats, and a table to eat at, the kitchen had cooking supplies, and the bedroom had a bed, a table, and a chair.

Jaune stepped out to buy some groceries, absentmindedly reaching for the white cloak on the kitchen counter, before realizing what he was doing and pulling his hand back. At the same time, he pondered, 'So... how do I find my semblance?'

 _'It'll come to you. Most people discover it on accident. I found mine when Uncle Qrow decided to make me run laps.'_

He choked. _'That's it?! That's all you did?'_ He walked out, locking the door behinds him.

 _'Yeah. Yang found her's when she stubbed her toe.'_

 _'So you don't know how to find my semblance?'_

 _'Yup. Completely clueless.'_

Jaune stopped in front of the store, "Patch's Finest Produce." It was the closest grocery store, so he stepped in and grabbed a cart from the side. The store was large, and divided into rows of food items, with must-be-refrigerated items at the back wall, inside clear-door coolers. Cashiers stood near the door, checking things out.

Jaune immediately walked to the back, grabbing a carton of milk. He then turned to get some cooking supplies, such as salt and sugar. When he reached the snack section, however, as he reached to grab a box of cookies, another hand grabbed it at the same time.

Jaune's eyes traveled up the arm and to the person's face. Silver eyes, black and red hair, pale red shirt, red skirt, looked familiar...

 _'Hey! It's younger me!'_

"What? I-I mean, sorry!" she yelped. Then, in a slightly quieter voice, "Here!" She gave the box to Jaune, and reached for another box. Jaune stood for a bit, feeling awkward, before he broke the silence.

"So... thanks? My name's Jaune. Short, sweet, ladies love it."

' _Do they?'_ Past-Ruby looked around, before tucking the box under her arm and returning her attention to Jaune.

"Do they?" she asked with a smirk

"I-I think so. I hope they will." Awkward silence descended once again, until Ruby restarted the conversation.

"W-well, my name is Ruby."

"Ruby, huh?" _'So this is you from the past?'_

 _'See! I'm real!'_

 _'Could be a coincidence.'_ "Nice name. You like cookies?"

"Yeah. I like cookies. Almost as much as I like weapons. You see, I wanna become a Huntress when I grow up! And every Huntsman or Huntress has a weapon of their own, and they're all really cool, and each of them are unique!" Jaune chuckled.

"So you want to be Huntress so you can have a cool weapon?" Future Ruby took the chance to imitate her past self.

 _'Nope!'_

"Nope! Hey, did you hear something?"

"No?" Jaune tentatively said. Future-Ruby was startled.

 _'Stay quiet for now.'_ He warned. If this Ruby could hear the voice, then maybe the voice was real. He should probably treat things seriously - and that included refraining from blabbing about the voice/future-Ruby.

"So, why does a cute, adorable girl like you want to become a Huntress?" He asked, ruffling her hair. Ruby blushed slightly and pouted, and future-Ruby sent Jaune an image of her face-palming.

"Well, I want to be a Huntress so that I can help people. I already sorta know some basic moves with scythes, since my Uncle's a really cool scythe user! He's all like, hyaa, watchaaa! I'm 11, so in two more years, I'll be going to Signal, and then I'll learn more cool things! Ooh, are you going to Signal?"

He grinned. "Yup."

"Oh, oh, oh, let me get Yang and Dad to meet you. Yang! Dad!" she vanished in a burst of rose petals, leaving Jaune.

 _'I really was an excitable little kid, wasn't I?'_

 _'You kinda still are at times.'_

Before future-Ruby could respond, past-Ruby come back, dragging a blue-eyed blonde man by the arm. He wore brown shorts, a brown vest, and a tan shirt. His shoes were black, and he had a red bandanna tied around his left arm. Behind them followed Yang - yellow hair, lilac eyes. She wore a brown jacket and black short shorts.

 _'She isn't as developed...'_ Jaune heard future-Ruby mutter, but refrained from asking what she meant.

"Hey, Jaune! This is my dad, and that's Yang! Dad, Yang, this is Jaune! He likes cookies too, and he's going to Signal!"

Ruby's dad reached out for a handshake. "Hi. I'm Taiyang. These two girls are my daughters."

Jaune just smiled and nodded, reaching out and grasping Ruby's Dad's hand to shake. Yang grinned.

"You must at least sorta good if you got into Signal. Can't wait to see you fight." Their dad face-palmed.

"Yang," he groaned. "Not everything is about punching. Anyways," he removed his hand from his face. "Where are you from? Haven't seen you around, and Patch isn't that big."

"Well, uh, I'm from Mistral." Jaune answered. "Sanctum rejected me, but then I did some stuff to catch the Headmaster's attention. Since he couldn't admit me into Sanctum anymore, he got me a spot at Signal."

"I see. Guess Yang's right, you must be pretty good to get Wolfsbane's attention. Headmasters don't meet random people for no reason." Tai nodded, as if thinking to himself, before snapping himself out of it. "Right! Well, we have some shopping to do. See you around!"

"Bye!" Ruby waved energetically.

"See you at Signal." Yang continued to grin.

"See you later." Jaune responded, politely waving. When they turned around the corner and out of sight, he stopped. _'Was that what I think it was?'_

 _'Yeah. Past me could hear me. Probably because of some sort of connection, or similarity in our auras. Your aura's a mix of your's and mine, so it would make sense that my past self's aura would be similar enough to hear me.'_

 _'So you're real.'_

 _'Of course!'_

 _What do we do?'_

 _'We hold back on telling her for now. Maybe in the future, once the bad guys are behind bars. Or, you know, six feet under.'_ Jaune shivered slightly at future-Ruby's implication. _'I don't want them to go through what I went through.'_

Jaune headed to the checkout line.

That night, he dreamed of dark alleys, shattered glass, dust shops, and a man in white, pointing a cane at _her_. Miles away, a younger Ruby dreamed of darkness and shadows - and a familiar voice that reminded her of cookies and roses.

* * *

 **Ruby was noted to have trouble with making friends in RWBY, probably because she usually uses weapons as a conversation topic when not everyone is interested in fighting. Here, Jaune was able to keep up with her strange interest, which was why they became friends easily.**

 **I'm using Ozpin and Oscar's soul-fusion to guess what Jaune and Ruby should be like. Jaune gets a voice in his head, and some skills. There might be more, but I don't want Jaune to be overpowered, so anything else will probably end up tied to his semblance. And I do have an idea for a semblance.**

 **If any character's are acting OOC for no reason, please mention it in a review. Only then will I know that I have to rewatch every RWBY scene with that character in it to get a better idea of how they should act. :)**


	3. Signal Begins

**For those who didn't realize it, Jaune dreamed of Ruby's fight against Torchwick, back in episode 1.**

 **Review Answers:**

 **Scotius - Actually, Ruby's grown a bit. She's almost a young adult, though she's still fairly childish. It's part of her character.**

 **Overreader99 - I don't think Jaune or Ruby want me to say anything about how they deal with that. It will be answered eventually. :)**

 **I write my answers to reviews up here since I saw other writers do it, but recently I discovered the "respond to review" button. Anyone know why other writers write review answers up here? I might start responding to reviews with the button instead.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. If I did, this would be canon. Consider that, then come back after life makes sense again.**

"regular speech"

 _'mental speech/thinking to oneself'_

* * *

 **Days later**

Jaune Arc woke up bright and early for Signal. He was extremely happy. It was a dream come true, and nothing could dampen his spirit.

Not even future-Ruby.

 _'Jaaaauuuune...'_

 _'What?'_

 _'It's too early...'_

 _'It's 8:10 already! Signal starts at 8:20, and Yang's waiting!'_ He grabbed his toast from the toaster, before snagging his bag and running out the door. He didn't need to climb any stairs, as his apartment was on the first floor. Yang stood right outside, her bag slung over her shoulder, wearing the brown blazer and skirt that belonged to the Signal Academy female's uniform, of which Jaune wore the male counterpart of. She and Jaune had met several times over the past few days, before exchanging scroll numbers. Yang learned that Jaune's apartment was on the way from her house and Signal, and soon, they had also exchanged promises to walk to school together.

"You ready?"

"Ready," Jaune replied.

"Good. Let's get going."

They walked for a while before Yang spoke up. "Hey, seen the news lately?"

Jaune shook his head. "Nope. Too busy settling in. What's up?"

"White Fang again. There was some big fight in Vale yesterday."

 _'Good thing we weren't there._ _'_

"That's not good. What if they start a riot here?"

"Relax. Patch is relatively racist-free. No way they're going to come here." Yang casually dismissed his concerns. Jaune felt sadness coming from Ruby.

 _'What's wrong?'_

 _'The White Fang_ did _come here in the future. Years in the future.'_ Jaune tried to send soothing emotions to Ruby. He wasn't sure if it worked, but the sadness abated.

 _'Thanks.'_ Jaune made a mental note to ask more about the future.

"Something up?" Yang had noticed his's silence. She had turned her head to look at him, an eyebrow raised in question.

"N-nothing. So, what type of weapon do you plan to make?"

Yang's trademark grin returned, and she spun around, walking backwards to face Jaune. "Gauntlets. Gauntlets all the way. Easy to hide, and I get to punch people in the face. What about you?"

"Mmm. I already have a sword and shield, but I'm hoping to add some things. Maybe a scythe or gun?" Yang's eyes widened, and she laughed.

"Scythe! Man, you have your work cut out for you. Those things are hard to learn to use."

"Speaking from experience?"

"Yup. Ruby's trying to learn how to use a scythe. I decided to be the good big sister, ya know, learn alongside her. It sucked."

"Really?"

"Couldn't even slice the dummy."

Jaune frowned. "Can't be that bad."

"It was that bad. I kept either missing the target or smacking the target with the stick." Yang's grin grew a bit. "Punching, on the other _hand_ , comes naturally." Jaune groaned. "Eh?"

For once, Jaune and Ruby spoke together. _"Don't."_

* * *

First class was Dust Usage with Taiyang, according to the class layout sent to his scroll. The siblings' dad wore the same clothes he wore when Jaune had met him while shopping.

The classroom was moderately sized, with seats lined up in neat rows and columns. Taiyang stood at the front by a large whiteboard and desk.

Jaune took a seat in the middle of the classroom, and Yang plopped down to his right. Once the classroom filled up, Taiyang began.

"Hello, everyone! I'm Professor Xiao Long, and I will be teaching World History. If you're not in this class, please leave." The whole class murmured in confusion. Some students, Jaune included, pulled out class schedules, but when a couple stood to leave, Taiyang laughed.

"Settle down, settle down! It was a joke. This class is actually Dust Usage." He was still chuckling when the class finally died down. Yang shot Jaune a grin and slipped him a note saying 'best dad ever.'

 _'I still remember this from my first year!'_ Ruby giggled. _'It was hilarious! Even better was when one of the students were actually there for World History! His face was sooo red!'_ Jaune stifled his own chuckle.

"Right then! Down to business! I think you're all grown up. We won't be doing any 'Who are You' projects to get to know each other." Taiyang leaned forward, both hands on his desk. " You can do that on in combat class, or during lunch. Today, we're jumping straight into class. And since this class is about Dust, who can tell me where Dust comes from?"

No one answered, everyone glancing around and looking at each other. Yang caught Jaune's eye and shrugged. Jaune turned to Ruby.

 _'Any ideas, Ruby?'_

 _'It's a trick question. The knowledge of where Dust comes from is a secret. To the world, no one knows where Dust comes from. No one even knows what exactly Dust is.'_

 _'So, no answer?'_

 _'No answer.'_

Taiyang looked around and smirked. "No answers? Good. That means you haven't been fed lies as to what Dust is. Truth be told, no one knows for sure. Its volatile nature makes it hard to study, and even then, scientists have no clue where to look or how to start."

"Although, we don't understand it, we can still use Dust. 'Dust and Tricks' was on your book list; you should have either checked a copy out of our library, or bought a copy yourselves. If you don't have your copy yet, feel free to move your seats a little and share." Yang and Jaune each pulled out their own copies, but many people in the class weren't as fortunate. The screeching of desks moving filled the air as people found others willing to share. "Let's continue. We're starting with the basics: using Dust attacks. Turn to page ten, then look up. Once everyone has looked up, I'll demonstrate."

Moments later, "Alright. Watch closely." Taiyang took a pebble and a pouch out of his pocket. From within the pouch he pulled out a brown crystal. Holding the crystal tight in his left hand, he tossed the pebble in his right. To the class' (except Jaune) amazement, it floated there, right above his hand. "Cool, eh? With practice, you won't even need to bring rocks with you. You can just do this-" setting the rock on the desk, he waved his hand again. The students watched, captivated (once again, except Jaune) as an arrow made of rock appeared in Taiyang's hand. He set that down as well.

 _'That's nothing. I could do that too.'_ Ruby grumbled.

"Now, start reading page ten. I have some rocks and small crystals up here; feel free to try them. And please, don't ignite, toss, pierce, break, or eat the crystals. No need to raise the school's medical bill."

As the class got to work, Jaune quickly skimmed over the first couple pages, finding them boring and filled with obvious safety information. Of _course_ fire dust was dangerous to handle, and why would anyone even try to use earth dust to create stone armor without supervision? That was asking to be suffocated!

 _'Just cause I'm here to teach you common sense doesn't mean everyone has someone in their head to keep them from doing silly things.'_ Ruby scolded.

 _'But what kind of person strikes a piece of earth dust to see if sparks come out?'_

 _'...'_

 _'You did, didn't you.'_

 _'Yang did too!'_

There was a loud bang.

Jaune's head whipped to the right. Yang sat there, covered in dirt, tattered remains of a paper on the soiled desk in front of her. She scratched the back of her head nervously and shot her dad a grin.

"Uh, oops?"

* * *

The second class was Combat with Professor Branwen. Unlike the last classroom, the Combat classroom was situated like a lecture hall, with the Professor's desk at the front. Behind the desk was an arena, with a large screen above. To the sides of the arena were doors leading to the changing rooms.

Professor Branwen stood from his seat near the desk as students filed in. He was dressed in a grey dress shirt and black pants, a red cape on his back and a flask on his hip. His appearance reminded Jaune of Ruby.

Jaune took a seat near the front, and Yang plopped down next to him. Most of the dirt had come off, but a few clumps stayed in her hair. She had laughed it off, and only gotten a scolding for failing to follow directions.

"Settle in, settle in. Kiddos, welcome to Combat class. I'm Professor Branwen. We ain't gonna sit around behind desks and read little books. In this class, we're gonna have action, so you can learn to fight." He took a swig from his flask.

"Now, I gotta see what you can do. So, we'll be starting some short fights so I can see what you've got." The screen above flickered to life. It displayed little cards, each with a picture and a name. The cards spun around, mixed together, then came out in pairs.

"The screen above's gonna tell you who you're fighting. Don't complain, and don't ask for a change, 'cause the real world isn't going to let you choose your opponent. We have sparring weapons - take your pick." Professor Branwen indicated to the right of his desk, where a few simple weapons lay. On screen, Jaune's card came out next to a brown-haired person he didn't recognize, Bronze. Yang was matched with Star.

"Before we start, does anyone need their Aura unlocked?" A few hands were raised. "Good. Tell your parents or your friends to unlock it for you, 'cause I ain't doing it. That's personal stuff. Today, you sit out. If your aura isn't unlocked by tomorrow, you're fighting anyways. Consider it practice for when you run out of aura." Yang snickered at the horrified faces. "People who get paired with someone without aura will also get to sit out. Jaune, Bronze, you're first."

Jaune and Bronze stood and headed to the changing rooms. Jaune taking a shield and sword, while Bronze snatched a mace. When they came out, Jaune immediately took note of Bronze's attire. Bronze wore (fittingly,) bronze armor over his school uniform. Jaune's had changed into his hoodie and jeans before donning his armor, and held his shield in his left hand and sword in his right.

"You two ready?" At their nods, Professor Branwen continued. "Then we're all just waiting for the screen." It was true. The screen displayed both of their pictures, but the aura gauges were empty. A large loading bar covered part of the pictures.

As the bar loaded, Ruby took the moment to pass Jaune advice. _'Don't get hit by the mace, even with the shield. The power behind the mace will take a lot out of your aura. Focus on dodging, and-'_

 _'Ruby, let me do this myself.'_

 _'But-'_

 _'Please.'_

 _'If you're sure...'_

"Go on." Professor Branwen took a long drink from his flask. The screen above finally displayed their auras.

Bronze started by charging, swinging in mace from right to left. Jaune ducked under and returned with a clumsy strike from his sword, which Bronze parried upward with the shaft of his weapon.

As Jaune's sword was knocked upward, Bronze swung his mace in a circular motion, regripped the mace, and repeated the same motion. Only, this time, Jaune was off balance from the parry, and heard Ruby's cry of _'Move!'_ too late. He received the mace with his face.

The gauge showing Jaune's aura dipped. 88%. He heard gasps from the audience as he spun backward from the hit, barely managing to stay standing. Bronze wasn't finished. The mace reversed direction, striking from left to right. Jaune swung his shield up, but there was a loud crack as the two objects collided, and he stumbled backward.

His aura read 84%.

He attempted to launch an attack of his own, slicing downward with his sword. Only, Bronze swung his mace downward as well, and the two weapons collided, the superior weight of the mace knocking the sword out of Jaune's hand and continuing. Jaune barely rose his shield in time.

79%.

Jaune kept his shield up, ignoring whatever it was Ruby was saying. He edged toward his sword, but Bronze walked over and kicked the sword behind himself, leaving Jaune with no way to attack.

 _A man in all green, striking a giant snake and causing the head to explode._

He blinked away the brief vision ( _'Ruby, I don't need help!'_ ) and charged at Bronze, hoping to be able to either reach his weapon or enter close quarters, where the mace would be difficult to use. The mace came at him again, and Jaune caught it by handle, pulling back to wrench it from Bronze's grip and his other hand ready to strike-

A fist met Jaune's stomach and he involuntarily let go, hastily retreating as Bronze landed another strike with the mace.

73%.

Jaune took a moment to catch his breath as Bronze stood there, watching, waiting, letting him stand.

Jaune charged once again. His opponent's weapon came at him again, and Jaune caught the handle - the scene from before repeating itself.

Except, this time, when Jaune pulled back at the weapon and Bronze moved to punch him again, the fist collided with the metal of the shield. The impact and pain caused Bronze to stumble back, retreating for the first time in the fight. Jaune savored the victory and looked to the overhead board.

Jaune - 73%.

Bronze - 97%

 _'Three percent is better than nothing.'_ He thought to himself.

 _'Don't take your eyes off-'_

Bronze's fist met Jaune's, interrupting Ruby. Jaune fell back, and Bronze jumped on him, pinning the shield and mace down and raining hits on Jaune.

"Stop." Professor Branwen looked down at the two of them as they stood. 54% to 96%. "Bronze, you better use that head of yours. Muscles aren't going to get you everywhere. I don't suppose you've ever heard of a feint? Stop being so straightforward. Or if you are, be faster at it. And in a real battle, don't just stand and let your enemy stand." The professor's eyes turned to Jaune. "And you. Mostly same problems. Use your head. Also, pick a weapon you can actually use. Your sword form is an eyesore. Your shield wasn't much better, and your aura isn't going to protect you forever. Next up, Yang and Star." He took another gulp from his flask as Jaune and Bronze left the arena.

As Jaune emerged from the changing room, Yang stood outside, waiting and frowning. She put a hand on his shoulder and leaned over to whisper in his ear.

"I know you can do better."

She stepped past him into the changing room, locking it behind her. Jaune returned to his seat, simmering with anger at himself. For being a failure again.

 _'Jaune. We have to talk.'_

He tensed. _'Later.'_

* * *

Jaune sat in the Combat classroom, alone, his bag hanging off the back of his seat. Everyone left - even the Professor, who had told the class "If you need me, see Mr. Xiao Long."

He slumped in the seat, arms dangling behind him.

 _'Jaune, I can help.'_

 _'I don't need help.'_

 _'Everyone needs help every now and then. I can teach you. A couple of my friends used swords.'_

Jaune gritted his teeth. _'You've been saying that for the past ten minutes. I thought you of all people would understand.'_

A pause. _'Understand what?'_

 _'What it's like to want to be a hero.'_

Another pause. _'I don't understand.'_

 _'I'm tired of being weak. Of needing others. I thought, maybe I had a chance when I beat Zwart. That I was getting better. Then I find that you were helping me. That in the end, I'm still the one who needs help.'_ He sat up and put his face in his hands. _'I need to do this. To prove to myself that I'm not here by luck. That I_ belong _.'_

 _'Of course you belong! You made into Beacon in the future! How could Signal_ not _accept you?!'_

Jaune scoffed. _'Probably dumb luck that I got into Beacon. I didn't even take down 10% of that guy's aura.'_

 _'Don't say that! Everyone starts off bad at first.'_

 _'Bit rich, coming from a child prodigy.'_ He retorted cynically. _'And if everyone starts bad, then I should have been even with that guy. He creamed me.'_

 _'Then train! Become better! Let me help!'_

"I DON'T NEED HELP!" He yelled out loud. He pulled at his hair out of stress, which he noted had gained a slight reddish tinge. He didn't care.

"I NEED TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS MYSELF, AND YOU'RE NOT HELPING! ALWAYS SAYING YOU CAN HELP!"

 _'But I can! I survived a war. I know how to fight. And I can teach you how to fight.'_

"Some war." He grumbled. "You say it's serious, that I have to do something, but you don't tell me what happened or who the enemy was. I only know that there was a person called Salem. Maybe the war was never that bad. You certainly act cheerful despite the 'horrors' you witnessed." It felt very good say that out loud. To let out his anger. His frustrations that he'd bottled for years. "Maybe you and your friends were just kids who bit off more than they could chew-"

 _'SHUT UP!'_

Jaune shut his mouth immediately.

 _'You don't know anything! Stop talking like that!'_

Jaune sat in silence. Muffled sobs reached his ears. Too far. He had gone too far. He hadn't meant to hurt Ruby like that, or to point fingers like that. He could see Ruby's face. Her crying, her tears, everything.

After a while, Ruby calmed, but sniffles and hiccups could still be heard. _'You want to know why I don't say anything about the future? Why I always insist on helping you? It's because I care about you too! I don't want you to see any of the things I saw! I just..._

 _I want you to be happy. You were my best friend, the first I ever made at Beacon. The one who picked me up when I was down, both literally and figuratively. The one who was always there. At one point, even my team left me, but you stayed.'_

Jaune stayed quiet, listening to Ruby's soft voice.

 _'Even though you're a different Jaune, one that I never met, I still care about you. I want to see you laugh, smile, and be with friends, without worrying about the next meal or the next battle. Someday, you'll have to fight, and then nothing will be the same. But until then, I want you, and everyone else, to be normal.'_

Jaune spoke up. ' _I_ _don't want to be normal. I want to be exceptional. To be a hero.'_

 _'And I'm willing to help you become better! When war comes, I want you to be ready, unlike me and my friends. We weren't ready.'_

 _'A hero needs to be able to do things themselves. I have to become stronger on my own.'_

 _'NO YOU DON'T!'_ Jaune flinched at Ruby's exclamation. _'_ _You don't have to prove yourself or anything by doing this alone! Jaune,'_ Her tone changed. _'I was practically raised on stories. They were the reason I wanted to be a hero.'_

Jaune, though surprised by the topic change, nodded to himself. _'Me too.'_

 _'Do you know what my favorite stories were?'_ At Jaune's "no," she continued. _'They were the ones where the hero started small. The ones where they climbed their way up. And in every one of those stories, the hero had a mentor or a partner._

 _Sometimes, the partner was the former damsel in distress, who picked up the fight when the hero couldn't. Sometimes, the mentor was an equal to the hero, and they trained together, so they were both partner and mentor, and ended up a friend._

 _Let me be that for you. You can play the hero, and I'll be your partner, mentor, and friend. As a partner, I will always be there for you. As a mentor, I can teach you. And most importantly, as friends, we can trust each other. Please?'_

Jaune stood and headed out to lunch. _'I'll think about it.'_ As Ruby receded, he murmured quietly to himself. "Thank you, Ruby..."

* * *

 **Jaune has an enormous aura. It's due to the combination of his naturally large aura and the aura of a skilled Huntress.**

 **Dunno if Jaune was being too harsh for his character. He did rant in front of Pyrrha in canon, but that wasn't as bad as it was here.**


	4. Ruby's Perspective

**Review Answers**

 **Well, now I know that the reply to review button just makes you PM the review writer. I'll continue sticking review answers up here.**

 **bwburke94 - That was a shout-out to the theory. Like I said, I haven't planned very much, though whether or not that theory will be used in this story is likely.**

 **Thanks to you guys who said Jaune was fine last chapter! I wanted him to have some kind of flaw, and I thought pride might be a good one.**

 **I want every character to have some kind of flaw. See if you can identify them!**

 **Disclaimer: I _totally_ own RWBY! See the badge?! It says, proud owner of RWBY! What? It's just a rock? What are you talking about? Huh? I just picked it off the ground?**

* * *

 **Ruby's Perspective _/_ Seeing Red**

 **days later**

 _"Mercury... what are you doing? You were hurt! Why...?! Uh... What's going on?"_

 _Mercury smirked at her._

 _"Fine. If you're not going to tell me..."_

 _She edged to the side, but Mercury moved with her. She frowned. Elsewhere, Oobleck's voice boomed over the speakers._

 _"Fighters, are you ready? Three, two, one, begin!"_

 _Mercury's grin, which disappeared for a moment, reappeared. "Show time."_

 _Ruby edged back and forth, trying to get around him, but Mercury always kept up. In desperation, she activated her semblance, dashing straight at him. He intercepted her with a kick to the stomach._

 _Ruby reached for her scroll, but Mercury blasted it out of her hands. "Let's just keep this between us friends."_

 _He lunged forward, Ruby barely ducking and dodging his kicks before using her semblance to shoot away from him, rebounding off the wall of the maintenance tunnels._

 _She burst out of the tunnels and turned, only to see Penny._

 _The strings pulled tight, dragged backward by Pyrrha's polarity. Penny's eyes widened in surprise. A crinkling sound filled the air as her strings ripped her to peices._

 _She crumpled to the ground. Her face. Penny's face. It filled her mind._

 _"This is not a tragedy. This was not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust. Your safety. Your children. To men who claim to be our guardians. But are, in reality, nothing more than men. Our Academies' headmasters wield more power than most armies and one was audacious enough to control both._ _They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army mercilessly torn apart by another's star pupil. What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference. And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First, a dismemberment, now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither._

 _Perhaps Ozpin felt as though defeating Atlas in the tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded its streets. Or perhaps this was his message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting kingdom with armed forces. Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong, but I know that the existence of peace is fragile, and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves. As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you the situation there is equally undesirable._

 _Our kingdoms are at the brink of war, yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark. So, I ask you, when the first shots are fired, who do you think you can trust?"_

Jaune shot up, chest heaving. He looked around. His bed. His room. Nothing to worry about. It was just a dream.

Just a dream

Just. A. Dream.

Right?

Jaune didn't sleep well that night. But when he did, it was of gunfire and chaos, ending with the sight of a well-dressed gentleman disappearing into a griffon's mouth.

When he woke up in the morning, he found tears in his eyes.

* * *

SWISH!

A slice appeared on the tree in front of her.

SKCHINK!

The blade of her scythe slammed itself into the wood, burrowing deep inside.

Ruby pou - scowled, because heroes don't pout. Ever.

Wouldn't be very hero-y for a hero to pout, cause then they'd look adorable, and heroes weren't supposed to be adorable 'cause they were supposed to be fearsome and-

Ahem. Yeah. Heroes don't pout. Period.

Ruby _scowled_ , eyeing the scythe that _had_ to go and get itself stuck. Now she would have to ask Uncle Qrow (not Dad, cause she was never going to let him manhandle another one of her babies) to pull the scythe out. Argh. If she still had aura left, she would've been able to pull it out easily. Why couldn't a scythe be like a gun? Point it, blam blam, job finished.

Heck, she could practice shooting with an area this big. The clearing in front of her house was fairly large. She could even practice using Dust!

Well, except fire Dust. She hadn't seen the bill for last time, but even she knew that burning down the house and starting a forest fire was a bad idea. That, and the clearing was filled with grass, so she'd probably end up lighting herself on fire.

What was she doing?

Oh, right. Scythe stuck. New scythe.

Ditching the old scythe, she headed for the house. As soon as she entered, she took a bottle of water from the stack on the dining table.

The dining table was sorta big, actually. Why was it big enough for, like, five people when there were only three in the house? Yeah, friends could come over, but Yang's friends usually crashed on the couch, and Ruby was socially awk - a lone wolf.

Yeah. That. Socially awkward meant that she couldn't make friends. She could! She just didn't wanna. None of the other kids wanted to play with her, and she was fine leaving it that way.

Sissies.

And yeah, Ruby was a girl and a lot of her classmates were boys.

Still sissies. And that boy yesterday had the nerve to tell her that girls were weaker than boys?

If that was true, why was Ruby able to do three times the amount of push-ups he was able to do in PE? Or run a mile in less than half his time?

Meh. Wimp.

She popped open the cap to the bottle and chugged down the water, downing half of the bottle in seconds. The sun was still out, so training was really disgusting and sweaty. If it was cooler, then she'd actually consider training as fun. A shame that her aura ran out after the first hour of training - otherwise, it would have protected her from the heat.

Not that Ruby was complaining. If it was needed to be a hero (and by extension, a huntress - or was it "be a huntress, and by extension a hero?"), then Ruby would jump straight into it!

Just, why though? Why did it have to be so hot? For once, she was glad she was still in primary school. She wasn't expected to wear a combat outfit at all times yet!

That meant she could just wear plain, white shorts and a t-shirt. Yeah, she liked the combat skirt she designed, but since her color scheme was black and red, the colors would make her _burn_ in the sun.

Under the sun.

Whatever.

She drank the rest of the water, then took a spare scythe out of the closet. The scythes that her uncle let her practice with were all the same - a metal shaft and a curved metal blade.

And the grey. The scythes were completely grey. It was kinda dull, and that was coming from a weapons enthusiast.

No matter what Yang said, she did not have a weapon fetish.

She didn't!

She just... appreciated the finer qualities of weapons.

But the scythes were just plain boring. No mecha-shifting or hidden guns or anything!

She paused at the door. The sun was still bright, even though Yang had come back from school a while ago. And since Signal let out at 3:00, now would be... 4 or 5?

Eh, she could do homework later.

When she strolled out though, something else caused her to stop. Walking up the path leading to her house was Jaune. He still wore the Signal Academy uniform, back his bag was missing. The only thing on him was a sword and sheath, which hung by his hip.

He looked dejected. His feet shuffled along, and his eyes were trained on the ground.

Well, that wouldn't do. Operation Cheer up Jaune was underway!

"Hey, Jaune!"

"Huh?" His head shot up, before his eyes connected with Ruby's. "Oh, uh, hey."

Ruby held back from pou - _scowling_. Looking upset wouldn't help, even if she was upset that her friend was upset. "What brings you here?"

"Er, well, I was just kinda taking a walk, and I ended up here."

Ruby stared intensely at Jaune. Was he avoiding her eyes?

"Something wrong, Jaune?"

He waved his hands in front of him. "I-it's nothing. Nothing at all."

"Doesn't seem like nothing." She leaned her scythe against the wall, then indicated for him to enter the house. "Come on! We can talk about it over cookies!"

"Um, well, if you insist..."

Ruby walked over to him and pretty much dragged him in, forcing him to sit at the dining table. "Do you want me to get Yang?"

"N-no, I'd rather you not."

"Ok." She opened the closet again, this time coming out with a box of cookies. She set them on the table with the water. "No milk though. Sorry! We ran out and were going to get more. So," she sat in the seat opposite to Jaune and leaned forward so her head was right in front of his. "What's wrong?"

"Look, I really don't want to bother you - "

"Jaune."

"Yeah?"

"We're friends, right?"

"Yes?"

"And friends help each other. I want to help you. So please, just tell me what's wrong." She leaned back and ate a cookie.

He sighed. "I got mad at a friend. I said some things I shouldn't ha - "

GASP!

"Was it Yang? Oh goodness it was Yang wasn't it? That's why she camehomealoneeventhoughshepromisedtowalkwi-"

"RUBY!"

"Yes?"

"It wasn't Yang."

"Oh."

He groaned and put his head in his hands. "A couple days ago, I said some things I shouldn't have to my friend, and now she won't talk to me. Even when I try to talk to her, she usually ignores me or gives me one or two word answers. She's not the type to hold a grudge, so I think I hit a sore topic. I want to apologize, but I don't know how to get her attention. And even then, I'm not sure if she'd accept my apology."

Ruby grinned. "So it's a she, is it?"

He lifted his head and stared at her. "Please, there's nothing between us. Could you be serious?"

She giggled. "Sorry! Couldn't resist! Who is it, anyways?"

He scratched his cheek. "Rather not say..."

"Hmm..." Ruby observed him carefully as she munched on another cookie. He was fidgeting. He always avoided looking at her eyes, and didn't take any cookies. Was he talking about herself? No, he didn't do anything that could get her mad. Maybe she should just give up.

"If I were her, I'd probably listen if you sat down with me. Just the two of us, kinda like right now. No distractions - " she advised.

Thudding sounds came from somewhere else in the house, and Yang burst in, having changed to her combat outfit. "Hey sis! Oh, hi Jaune! What brings you here?"

Ruby spluttered. "Yang! We're having a serious discussion! Please, get out!"

Yang smirked. "Maybe I could join in? After all, I was the most popular girl in primary school. I picked up a few things. Guys mostly, but some advice too."

Ruby opened her mouth, but couldn't find any reason to argue. She pout - _sulked_ , Ruby sulked while Jaune explained his situation.

"Well, I'd tell you to talk to her alone, without distractions - "

"That's what I said, Yang!"

"- and maybe offer her something she likes as a present! I always offer Ruby cookies when I need her to forgive me for something."

Jaune still seemed sorta sad, but it was now I-dropped-my-pencil-sad rather than I-punched-my-best-friend-in-the-face-sad. "That's a good idea. Thanks guys. You were a lot of help."

"No problem. Come around again later, k? Just give us a little heads up first."

"Sure. See you two around."

"Bye Jaune!"

He left, closing the door behind him. For a moment, there was complete silence, save for the munching of delicious treats.

"So... you and Jaune were alone in a room together?"

"Yang! It's not like that!"

* * *

Jaune trudged back home, carrying a box that he'd bought. To any regular citizen, he would seem depressed, but he was actually lost in thought.

Ever since they had their argument, future-Ruby hadn't said a word. He couldn't even feel her presence. Having Ruby in his head had felt strange at first, but now that he was used to it, having Ruby missing felt stranger.

Reaching his apartment, he unlocked his room on the first floor. Leaving the box on the bed, he flopped down right next to it.

 _'Ruby?'_

No answer.

 _'Ruby?'_

Still no answer.

 _'I'm sorry. You only wanted to help me get better, and I hurt you. I was being a stuck up brat. I could only see myself, and not anyone else._

 _I'm sorry you got stuck with me._

 _I saw what you went through, you know? I didn't realize what it was at first. I thought they were just dreams. But they were real, weren't they? After all, I was you in the dreams._

 _I saw the some of the fights. The Nuckelavee in Kuroyuri and Roman in Vale. But there was more, wasn't there? I haven't seen it all, but I saw the fall of Beacon last night. There you were, fighting for your life, and here I am, being a jerk. You don't deserve this. You don't deserve someone like me to drag you down. But you offered help to me anyways, and I refused it._

 _I hope you can forgive me, even if I haven't done anything to deserve it.'_

He lay there, listening for an answer. He was about to give up when finally, warmth seeped back into his mind.

 _'Jaune?'_

 _'Ruby!'_

 _'Thank you.'_

* * *

 **Ruby is really easy to write. I just ask myself, what would I do in Ruby's position? and then I get my answer.**

 **Since everyone said Jaune was written right last chapter, now I'm scared that he and Ruby made up too easily. Drat. I think I need to be more confident. Can't go around doubting everything I write, right?**

 **I'll be rewriting chapters 1 and 2 at some point, but the plot will stay the same.**

 **What's in the box?**


	5. Cloak Buddies

**Sorry about the longer wait. I discovered RWBY amino, and have been spending time looking at weapons and creating my own. That, and there were some pretty interesting polls and memes.**

 **Review Response**

 **Ryuuohjin - but Jaune does have some of Ruby's memories! He just doesn't realize them unless it's in his dreams, or if they're pointed out. He knew Ruby's fighting style, and he's slowly going through the major events in Ruby's life every time he goes to sleep.**

 **bwburke94 - no promises! I plan to plan things out in the future. As of now, that theory isn't part of the plan, but I don't want to limit myself by giving out promises when my plans haven't reached that far yet. As of now, the origin of man, grimm, and Salem have been figured out. The abilities of the Silver-eyed warriors have also been planned.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. Please don't sue me. I have, what, 20 dollars on me right now?**

* * *

 **Cloak Buddies**

Ruby skipped as she walked down the streets of Patch, a single-strap bag slung over her shoulder.

An obnoxious clinking sound filled her ears.

Oh, and her scythe and gun.

Dad, being the overprotective dad he was, had given her a long talk about "Don't take shortcuts," and "Don't talk to strangers." What did he take her to be, brain-dead? He would have gotten Yang to walk her too, except Yang had vanished - probably gone out with some friends.

And _then_ dad even insisted on her bringing weapons and wearing her combat clothes. Everyone on the street was looking at her! The red and grey combat skirt wasn't a problem - she was going to grow out of it soon, so she might as well wear it now.

The weapons were annoying though.

The weapons weren't even cool! They were just a plain scythe with a strap added and a standard model Atlesian-100 assault rifle.

Bleh! Ember Celica, Crescent Rose, and Crocea Mors, however, were gonna be awesome.

She could see it! The Ember Celica's rotating pieces priming to launch flame dust through the greaved firing tube, adding increased accuracy and power by spinning the Dust round to grant greater ability to ignore the forces of-

No! Bad Ruby! Fantasize later!

She then realized she was drooling, her scythe was out, and she had started petting it and whispering to it. The people around her had all moved to the sidewalk on the other side of the street.

She slipped the scythe on her back and dashed away, her semblance being really useful for escaping awkward situations like that.

 _'Note to self: don't daydream in the middle of a walk.'_

There was Jaune's apartment! This was her third time here, and her awesome memory was, well, awesome! She didn't have to check her scroll for the address this time!

Well, dad drove her here the last two times, so she never had to check her scroll the last two times, but still!

She dashed up to Jaune's door, rapping on the door rapidly and completely ignoring the doorbell.

Jaune opened the door. He was wearing that hoodie with the adorable little bunny rabbit ( _'squeee!'_ ) and jeans.

"Hi!" Ruby chirped.

"Uh, hi?" He responded, eyeing the weapons on her back. "You're not here to assassinate me or something, right?"

"Pfft, you, nah. Dad's just being crazy again." She took the scythe off and laid it against the wall next to the door, then dropped the gun and its holster next to it.

"I didn't see you bring the scythe the last two times." He closed and locked the door.

"That's cause dad drove me here those times. He still asked me to bring a gun with me. Dunno why."

A faint buzzing sound filled the air as he raised an eyebrow. Ruby ignored it. "I guess I can understand."

"Come on! I have some of the schematics planned out, but you're better with the Dust stuff. Let's finish up these weapons!" She dashed over to a table and pulled out the schematics, laying them out on the table, before turning back to Jau-

GAH!

Jaune did it again! He just- just- just-

He teleported! There's no way he could sneak up on Ruby like that! How-

"Is there something on my face?"

Ruby blushed when she realized she had been staring. "Nothing! Just, um..." she desperately searched for something to say. "Your hair!"

"My hair?"

"Yeah! The tips are red now! Why?"

"I-It was an accident!"

 _'Hmm...'_ Ruby stared into his eyes, which refused to meet hers.

The annoying buzzing returned, though now Ruby could tell that it sounded more like whispering. She ignored it, focusing on Jaune, who looked uncomfortable. He was going to give him an answer or-

She noticed something white out of the corner of her eye.

There was a white cape in the kitchen.

Mom had a white cape.

The inside of Jaune's cape was red.

The inside of Mom's cape was red.

Ruby stared at the article of clothing.

In her daze, she didn't hear Jaune until a hand waved in front of Ruby's face. "Hello? Remnant to Ruby? Come in, Ruby."

She snapped out of her daze and changed her question. "Jaune? Where'd you get that cape?"

 _'Oh crap.'_

That voice! It was the same voice she heard back when she first met Jaune! Was she imagining it?

The buzzing continued - but now, Ruby was certain it was whispering of some kind.

Ignore it for now.

"I found the cape."

Ruby blinked. "Where did you find it?"

"There was some wind, and it smacked into me. No one claimed it, so I kept it."

"C-can I touch it?"

"Touch it?" he furrowed his eyebrows, but relented. "Sure."

He strode over to the cloak and gently handed it to Ruby, who accepted it. She stared, feeling the fabric of the cloak. It was just like mom's.

"I'm sorry."

Ruby's eyes shot up to Jaune's. "For what?"

"For reminding you of your mom. The cloak looked like hers, right?"

"Yeah..." she return to staring at the cloak for a while, Jaune patting her back soothingly, when suddenly, she wrenched her eyes away from the cloak again. "Jaune? There's something I'd like to show you."

* * *

The leaves crunched under her feet as she walked to the grave. 'Summer Rose - Thus Kindly I Scatter' was engraved into a piece of rock - a place to honor her mom.

Jaune walked behind her. He was really quiet - actually, he was usually quiet. It was...different. Yang and her dad were both loud, and then there was Zwei...

She stopped at the tombstone before turning to Jaune. "This is where I honor my mom. I," she winced. "I don't remember her too clearly. Just little bits, like how she smelled like cookies, or how she sung me to sleep." It was ok to tell Jaune everything, right? Heroes had to be able to depend on their friends. "I talk to her sometimes. It makes me feel better, like she's still here, listening. Your cloak just..." she swallowed, "reminded me of her. Before she vanished on a mission."

He stared at the rock before answering. "I'm sorry. I should have kept the cloak hidden, if it was going to hurt you-"

"No. Don't. Like I said, I don't remember her very well." There was a long pause as they both stood by the stone, side by side. Ruby finally broke the silence.

"She was a hero. My mom, that is. I always looked up to her. Well, her and my uncle. They were both great fighters, and I want to be just like them."

"It's the same for me," Jaune answered. "I grew up with stories about my great-grandfather. He fought in the war, saving tons of people. I also wanted to be just like him." Ruby felt a lot better, knowing there was someone else like her.

"I guess we both want to be heroes, huh?" she asked, smirking. She then froze. "Wait a sec..."

"Uh... Ruby?" She unclasped her cloak and closed the distance between them.

"Hold on..." In a single motion, she flung the cloak on Jaune before clasping it on.

Jaune looked bewildered - so cute! Just like Zwei! And the cloak looked great!

"Yup! I was right! You could definitely make the cloak work!"

"Huh?" Ruby refrained from pinching his cheeks. What was the word Yang used? Adorkable? Yup, that was it!

"You should wear your cloak. It could definitely fit you. Besides," she gave Jaune a thumbs up and a smile. "I think mom would have been happy to see that another person decided to follow in her footsteps, even if it was a stranger."

"Oh. Umm. Ok?"

She giggled. "Stop looking so surprised! It would be evil of me to hog all the cloaks to myself! A hero wouldn't be that selfish!"

Jaune shot her a sly grin. "So when you take all the cookies for yourself..."

"That's different!" she wailed. And she thought he might understand, being her fellow member of the cookie cult! "Cookies are wonderful treats, gifted upon people by the great Oum-"

A growl interrupted their conversation, and Jaune and Ruby immediately looked in its direction. A few unwanted visitors had appeared - four or five Beowolves. And neither of them had remembered to bring weapons.

So, of course, leave it to Ruby Rose to come up with a wonderful plan! She would save them - even the adorable yet annoying blonde boy who didn't understand her love of cookies!

"Remember Grimmman 3?"

Jaune's frown grew. "How could I forget? You used fling on me to attack the Ursa-" he suddenly stopped talking for a moment, before groaning. "Aim better this time."

Ruby smiled back. "Got it. When we're done, feel up for a race?"

* * *

Jaune rested his head on the desk, hood up. First time wearing the cloak to school, and it was already useful. Some people had questioned him about his change of clothing - the cloak was difficult to miss, and he had exchanged the jeans for white pants to go with the red-black-white color scheme. He had waved them off, saying that the cloak was cool - and it was good for sleeping in class.

Dust Usage was _so_ boring.

 _'It doesn't come naturally to everyone, you know.'_

 _'I know that,'_ Jaune whined, _'but why do I have to sit here too?'_

 _'If I sat through this for two years, you can do the same.'_

 _'But it's so boring! Training is more interesting!'_

 _'That's cause you and past-me are obsessed with fighting! Seriously! Throwing each other like projectile weapons?! If I had my own body, I'd report you to-'_

"Jaune Arc!"

Jaune's head shot straight up, and the hood fell.

"Just because I know you outside of class, doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on you. What are the fire dust safety rules?"

"Errm..." He glanced toward Yang, who was snoozing. A little drop of drool hung from the side of her lips. No help there.

 _'See if you can get this one yourself. Serves you right for not paying attention.'_ No help there either.

"Use fire Dust under supervision?"

Taiyang raised an eyebrow. "Good. And?"

"Treat with care?"

The professor snorted. "Obvious, but yes. What's the last one?"

"Keep away from children?"

"Good! I see you weren't completely zoned out. The next question goes to... Yang!"

"HBLBLUM-Wazzah?"

"Which physical form of dust is the most volatile?"

"Uhh..." she glanced at Jaune, who made a sifting motion with his hands. "Liquid dust?" Jaune facepalmed.

"Incorrect. I hope you pay more attention, Yang. It would be incredibly embarassing for someone to fail their dad's class, wouldn't it?"

"Ugh..."

"Now, let's see... Dusk! I'm extremely proud that you thought I looked handsome enough that you drew pictures of me, but I hope you can answer the question that Yang didn't!"

Jaune rested his head on his hand when he realized that he wouldn't be called for a while.

 _'Would it kill you to listen in class?'_

 _'I know most of the stuff, don't I?'_

 _'That's - you don't - Fine! Be that way!'_

Jaune lifted his head from his hand. Might as well humor her.

* * *

Combat class was his favorite class now. With Ruby's help, he had gotten better, so combat class was now a great way to see how far he'd come. The last fight with Bronze had been closer - 12% to 26%, though Bronze still won. Fortunately, Bronze was a good winner - he never flaunted his victories.

Today, like the past few days, the arena in the Combat classroom was no longer empty. It was filled with different booths, each booth containing a couple of weapons and an empty space.

Professor Branwen stood up. "Alrighty, class. Settle down. You know the drill. We're going to continue making your own weapons. Back 'ere, we have booths to try out new weapons. Lots of you know how to use one weapon. It's a good idea to learn how use several. You'll be messing around with these toys. Basics Physics was an elective in primary school for a reason - next period, in Mechanics, you'll be continuing designing your weapons. If you haven't procrastinated on last-week's homework, and you have a design that's been approved already, the forge is open. If you have a design, but it's not approved, Ms. Worthington's classroom is open. Get going, all of you." He sat down and sipped from his flask.

Jaune pulled a box out of his bag. Reaching in, he also extracted several large rolls of paper before walking into the arena and towards Yang, who had rushed down as soon as Professor Branwen had finished talking.

"Hey Yang!"

"Huh?" She looked up from staring at the complicated chain-sword ( _'It looks like Gambol Shroud!'_ ). "Oh, hey! What's up?"

Jaune raised one of the rolls. "Guess what this is."

Yang furrowed her brow. "Your weapon design? Did you forget to procrastinate?"

"No, but Yes." He said with an innocent smile that he _definitely_ didn't learn from Ruby. "These are my weapon blueprints." He patted the other rolls, which he held under his arm.

Yang continued to think. "The project that was due in Language class?"

"Nope. Here's a hint: I heard you like punching things."

Yangs eyes widened. _'She got it!'_ Jaune thought elatedly.

"Designs for a new punching bag?"

 _'...aaaaand she missed it.'_ Ruby replied.

"No. Another hint: I worked with Ruby to make this work."

She gasped. "The gauntlets blueprints! The one I asked Ruby if she could help me with!"

"Finally." He handed the roll over to her.

She slung an arm over Jaune's shoulder. "Have I ever mentioned you're a great friend?"

"About as much as you mention Ruby is a great sister."

"True, true. Hey, when did you two work on these? I think I would've noticed you in the house."

"Nah, I invited Ruby to my place."

"Ah." She gave a leery grin. "So just you and my sister, eh?"

"Yang! She's only 11!"

 _'Yang! Shut up!'_

She laughed. "Just messin' with you, friend. Still," she glared into his eyes, "you two have been spending an awful lot of time together. Heck, you dyed your hair the same shade of red as hers, and then there's the cloak."

Jaune refused to show his panic. Or at least, he tried to hide it. _'Darn it, is she on to us?'_

 _'It's fine! Just tell her that we're just friends!'_

"I-it's nothing! We're just really close friends! We share a lot of interests!"

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"Uh, w-weapons? Cookies? Remnant: a Game?"

"And the red hair?"

"I-it was an accident! Yeah! I, uh-"

 _'Tripped into red paint!'_

"Tripped into red paint!" He cringed, but continued nonetheless. "Seems fine actually, I might keep it this way!"

She glared a bit more before she loosened up and ruffled his hair. "You're good for now. I'm going to see if I can get these approved by Ms. Worthington. You coming?"

"Nah." Jaune declined, relieved that the interrogation was over, and that Yang hadn't asked about the cloak. "I already got mine checked. You might want to take a look at the blueprints first."

"I will! See ya!" she dashed off. Probably excited to punch things.

Jaune exited the arena and walked to Professor Branwen, who was sipping from his flask and watching the students below. "Uh, sir?"

 _'Sir? Since when did my uncle become a gentleman?'_ Jaune resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Ruby's comment.

"Hmm?" the professor looked up.

"I have my weapon upgrades approved and the schematics right here." Jaune said, patting the rolls.

Professor Branwen looked surprised - kinda. His eyes widened, but the rest of his face remained unchanged, so it was kind of hard to tell...

"Alright, kid. Honestly wasn't expecting anyone to have their weapons plans ready yet. You kids have a tendency to procrastinate. Go on, and here's your pass."

* * *

Jaune entered the forge with a massive grin. The place was large and messy, with metal tables serving as work stations and wooden tables to lay out blueprints and schematics.

From within his bag, he pulled out the box that he'd picked up days ago. Inside, he could feel Ruby teeming with excitement.

 _'Finally, Ruby! Our baby will be born!'_

Ruby didn't respond with actual words. Instead, she gave out a long _'squeee'_ of excitement.

 _'It will be wonderful!'_ Jaune continued. _'Crocea Mors will get that upgrade, and it'll be totally awesome! We'll be like-'_ He sent Ruby a short video of himself swinging around a white and gold scythe, slicing Ursa and Beowolves around him. Ruby abruptly fell silent.

He pulled out several gears, cables, and pieces of metal, setting them on a wooden table before alerting the forgemaster of what he was doing. "I got permission to use the forge from Professor Branwen. Can you supervise me?"

"Ok, lil' guy. Have fun! I'll have the camera on, so I'll see if anything happens."

"Thanks!" Jaune shouted back as he exited the forgemaster's office. Only then did he notice Ruby's silence. _'Something wrong?'_

 _'N-no! Nothing wrong at all!'_

 _'...'_

 _'...'_

 _'...'_

 _'O-ok, maybe something's wrong.'_

Jaune pulled Crocea Mors out of the box. _'Care to talk about it?'_

 _'It's just,'_ Ruby hesitated. _'I'm influencing you by being in your mind.'_

Jaune hummed as he unrolled the schematics on the bench. _'I'm not sure what's wrong with you influencing me. Everyone's influenced by the people they meet, right?'_

 _'B-but,'_ Jaune saw Ruby biting her lip. _'It's more than just that. Your hair's turning red. You've developed an interest in weapons and a craving for cookies, things that the Jaune I knew didn't have. I'm scared that... that I'm killing you, in a way, and replacing you with a copy of myself.'_

 _'Ruby,'_ He moved Crocea Mors from the wooden table to the work station. _'I'm still me. Yeah, I was sorta freaked out when you first appeared in my head a month ago, but that was then. I'm not you - first of all, I'm a guy, and I doubt that'll change anytime soon.'_ Ruby giggled as his comment. _'Besides, we had an argument last week. That shows that we're still different people, doesn't it?'_ He pulled out some power tools.

 _'Yeah, but-'_

 _'No buts.'_ He donned his protective gear.

 _'Fine.'_ Ruby pouted, but it was clear she wasn't as upset anymore. _'On a different note, what should we do about Uncle Qrow?'_

 _'I don't know.'_ Jaune inserted dust into the power tools. _'I'm kind of scared of telling him stuff. How would we prove it?'_

 _'You could tell him that his flask is filled with milk.'_

 _'It is?'_

 _'Not usually. But Signal has a no alcohol on campus policy, so when he's teaching, he fills the flask with milk. You know me. Who do you think started my milk addiction?'_

 _'Fair point.'_ Jaune conceded as he looked over the blueprints again. _'But I don't think that's sufficient evidence.'_

 _'Mention Salem.'_

The room seemed to grow colder at Ruby's serious tone. She continued. _'Salem is the name of the enemy. Her name will tell Qrow that you are already involved in this.'_

 _'And what stops him from thinking we're the enemy?'_

At Ruby's silence, he continued. _'Exactly. We need evidence.'_

Ruby frowned. _'I have something that could be evidence, but it won't be valid until four years into the future.'_

 _'Wha-'_

 _'Time travel.'_

 _'Ah.'_ He put the random components on the work station. _'So we keep quiet for now?'_

 _'Yeah.'_ Ruby was disappointed. Jaune decided to cheer her up.

 _'H-hey! No... sulking! Yeah, no sulking! We have a weapon to upgrade!'_ Ruby perked up immediately.

 _'I don't sulk!'_ Came her immediate reply, followed shortly by _'Still, our weapon is going to be awesome! Hey, want me to help out?'_

 _'Tips only.'_ He stood over Crocea Mors, tools in hand. _'I wanna do this myself!'_

 _'Aww...'_

 _'M-maybe you could help by helping me remember the blueprints?'_

 _'On it!'_

* * *

 **The last lines of the forge scene are to show that Jaune hasn't completely let go of his pride, since he didn't have a wake up call like he did in the canon. He went through the traumatic memory, and while it was certainly a slap in the face, it didn't have quite the same effect.**

 **Random note - Bronze was inspired by the idea of a nice Cardin. That's why his weapon and armor are the same, but a different color.**


	6. Cool Weapons

**I'm going to try and shorten these notes.**

 **Ryuuohjin - my secret :)**

 **Kazeshini23 - thanks for pointing that out. I thought I had put the character tags, but I hadn't.**

 **A day with Ruby!**

 **Disclaimer: There is no "I" in RWBY.**

* * *

"Alright girls, dinner time!"

A red blur dashed to the dinner table, followed shortly by Yang. "Awesome! What are we having?" The brawler asked as she took two plates of food. "Mashed potatoes, chicken, and rice?"

"We also have strawberries for dessert!" Taiyang replied.

"Ooh, ooh, ooh! Gimme!" Ruby cried, springing up, only to be pushed back down by her dad.

"For dessert, Ruby." Ruby scowled. No pouting!

"Fine." She mumbled. Why would he keep the wonderful red treats from her? They were her favorite!

"So dad, what's the occasion?" Yang questioned. "You don't always cook. In fact, you rarely cook at all. Ruby usually handles the cooking."

"Cause you're a horrible cook, Yang." Ruby grumbled. "No matter what you say, that tentacle monster was _not_ fit to eat."

"Hey!"

"Girls, please, not at the dinner table. If you destroy this table, I'll lower both of your allowances." He waited for them to settle down before continuing. "I made dinner because I know Ruby has been busy lately, and I felt sorry that you had to eat hamburgers for three dinners in a row, k?"

"Thanks, dad!" Ruby exclaimed. "You're the best!"

"Eh, I was fine." Yang shrugged. "Thanks anyways, dad."

"You're welcome." The three sat down, each with a plate in front of them. Ruby and Yang sat together, opposite to Tai.

"So sis," Yang asked, "made any new friends?"

"Nope! And I'm keeping it that way!" Ruby ate a piece of chicken.

"Ruby," Tai groaned. "You can't just avoid your classmates!"

"Weer wot?" Ruby swallowed. "Why not? They all don't like me. They think games are for nerds and fighting is for weirdos. Some of them tried to bully me." Ruby didn't regret a thing. Any injuries weren't her fault!

"Ruby," Tai pressed, "Friends are an important part of everyone's lives. You should be more like Yang!"

"So you mean, flirt with every boy who isn't Jaune? I have Yang, Jaune, and you, dad. I don't need more friends!"

Yang decided to rejoin the conversation. "Ruby, I'm your sister. I don't count."

"Yes, you do!" Ruby protested. Traitor! "And anyways, there's Jaune too!"

Tai swallowed a mouthful of food. "Ruby, even though Jaune shares a lot of interests with you, you need more friends."

"No, I don't! Jaune's cool. He has an appreciation for the classic weapons."

Tai snorted. "He uses a stick as a weapon."

"Huh?" Ruby and Yang both looked confused. Yang continued. "What are you talking about, dad? Jaune uses a sword and shield."

"He does?" Tai looked surprised. "I asked Wolfsbane about what he did. Wolfsbane said that he beat up a criminal with a metal rod."

"Huh, didn't know he could do that. He might have been serious when he said he was going to have a scythe form built into his weapon." Yang commented.

"A scythe?!" Jaune was even cooler than Ruby thought! He was like Uncle Qrow!

"Yeah! How come you didn't know, if you worked on Ember Celica and your weapons with him?"

"He said he finished his weapon design already..." Ruby mumbled. Did he want to keep his weapon a secret? Did it have something to do with the whispering?

"So Ruby, did he help you with your weapon?" Tai inquired. "I don't think the two of you spent much time on Yang's weapon."

"Yeah. He had some really cool ideas, like a sniper-scythe. Actually, I have a basic outline already." Well, basic was stretching it. They had written out a lot of the mechanisms too. Creating a full pivot for the blade to make an extra halberd form was genius! Well, not really genius. But figuring how to adjust the mechanism so that gunshots would go sideways to increase swing momentum was really cool.

Yang cut in. "I'll ask him about the scythe tomorrow, in class. In the mean time, dad, what do you think about Ember Celica? Ruby and Jaune helped me make her!"

Tai smirked. "Glad to see you're taking after me, firecracker. Brawling has been a Xiao Long tradition!" He puffed his chest out proudly.

"Jaune really helped with that too." Ruby commented. "He figured out that by adjusting the locking mechanism, an extra layer of rounds could be added to the main firing system, so that Ember Celica could fire multiple shotgun rounds to maximize damage, while at the same time still having a single shot option for the event of a prolonged battle between-"

"Ok, ok, we get it sis. Jaune's cool."

Ruby frowned. At least Jaune listened when she talked about weapons. No one else did! They always interrupted her or ran away! Hmph.

They ate for a bit in silence, before Tai spoke up again. "Yang? Is my class boring?"

"Wha? Uh, kinda?" Yang sheepishly said. "Didn't mean to fall asleep..." She mumbled to herself. However, Ruby always had really good ears. Tai did too.

"You fell asleep?!" No fair! Ruby's teachers didn't let her sleep in class!

"Yeah..."

"Well, young lady, I believe you can make it up by reading pages 11 to 66. I know you've never done the assigned reading." Never mind, very fair.

"Alright, dad, whatever you say. How about you, Rubes? How was your class?" Yang, you think you're sneaky, getting dad to focus on me. But Ruby Rose has a plan!

"Great! We learned how people use those big machines to mix Dust. Our teacher even had some Dust crystals that she got last week from visiting hunters! I got to mess around with them, and they didn't blow up in my face! On the other hand, Yang, I heard you had an explosive experience..."

Yang glared.

Ruby flashed an innocent smile.

* * *

 _'...by'_

 _'...Ruby...'_

Ruby looked around. It looked like she was in Signal - or Beacon? Tai and Uncle Qrow brought her with them to Signal sometimes, when she didn't have classes, so she'd definitely recognize the white columns and tiled floor. However, Signal was fashioned after Beacon, and Beacon was her dream school.

This was a dream right?

So if this was dream, and Beacon was her dream school, was this Beacon?

Ruby supposed it didn't matter _too_ much. They were both awesome schools (though Beacon was better), so she didn't feel like complaining.

 _'...Ruby...'_

There was the voice! Ruby dashed off in pursuit, following wherever she thought the voice had come. There was a prickling feeling in the back of her neck - she was being watched.

Though, if this was just a dream, she might as well see if she could find her watcher, right?

 _'Ruby!'_

Well, now the voice was more urgent. Before, it was just scary. Like Yang dressing up as a ghost on Day of the Grimm.

...Yang made a really scary, blonde, flaming ghost.

Ruby hesitated. Follow the voice, or look for this stalker? And there was a stalker, because Uncle Qrow had taught her to trust her instincts.

Oh, and because she could see a moving shadow here and there.

However, Ruby wanted to be a hero. So even if this was just a dream, she was going to see who it was who was calling for her.

 _'Ruby!'_

There was the voice! Mind set, Ruby activated her semblance. Maybe she could also throw off the stalker in the process?

She came to a halt, listening again for another hint. The large cafeteria doors stood in front of her, but she was certain the voice wasn't coming from inside.

 _'Ruby!'_

The voice was extremely close now. Down the little sidewalk, through the garden-

There!

A person dressed in a white cloak!

The person spun around, and Ruby was immediately captured by her eyes.

They glowed with power, and there was a panicked look on her face. Silver eyes, exactly the same as hers.

 _'There is something I need to tell you.'_

Ruby snapped awake. In the darkness of her room, she could see a figure standing over her.

"Dad?"

"Nope. Guess again."

"Yang?"

"You got it." Yang grasped her hand. "Rubes, you ok?"

"I'm fine. Just a weird dream." Ruby replied. "Why'd you ask?"

"You were tossing and turning. That usually means a nightmare, you know?" Yang lightly teased.

"Yeah, yeah."

"...Do you want to talk about it?" Yang laid down beside her, something Ruby was thankful for. Yang was always warm and soft, but it wasn't often that she'd let others cuddle with her.

For Ruby, though, Yang would always go out of her way to make her feel better.

"Not really." Ruby responded, curling up next to Yang, who put an arm on her hair and petted her. Ruby liked being petted. The only problem was that it made her look adorable, and heroes weren't adorable.

They were fierce! They were scary!

How was she supposed to look either when she was being petted?

But at that moment, Ruby was feeling sleepy. She snuggled up against Yang.

"G'night..." she mumbled.

She slept well that night, so it wasn't too much of a surprise that she was extremely irritated when Tai woke them up with an air horn.

* * *

Ruby found school to be _very_ boring. Her first class was language, where the teacher just talked on and on. Ruby decided to spend the class drawing random weapon designs.

The second class was math. Yes, 1/2=0.5. No, there's no difference between 0.5 and 0.50. No, there isn't usually a "d" in the quadratic equation. No, she was not peeking at the back of the textbook for answers. Yes, she would like it if her table-neighbor stopped talking.

WHY?!

Why did she have to go through this simple stuff? She already knew advanced physics and mechanics. She didn't like to study, but if it meant getting closer to making her "baby"...

"Miss Rose?" The teachers word cut into her daydream of using Crescent Rose instead of the boring old scythes.

"Huh?" The class snickered at her. Yeah, laugh it up. As if they've never been caught daydreaming before.

"What is the perimeter of this shape?" The teacher indicated to the board at the front of the class, where a rectangle with a square cut out was shown. The side lengths, four and six, were written.

"20."

"That is correct. However, please refrain from staring out the window when I am lecturing, Miss Rose."

"Yes, Ms. Pearl." she replied in a monotone voice. Ms. Pearl apparently didn't notice.

"Good. Now, class, as Miss Rose has shown..."

Ruby gazed outside again. She had a window seat - did that mean she was the protagonist? Wasn't it an accepted rule that protagonists got window seats at the back of the class? And she had the corner window seat farthest away from the front, so she was in the "protagonist seat."

If she was the protagonist, was the world a Mistralian anime show?

She sneakily pulled out her weapon design, planning to add a few more touches-

"Miss Rose?" The teacher was looking at her!

 _'Aw, c'mon.'_

* * *

Ruby barely focused throughout the classes. She knew the math stuff already, and physical education? She wasn't allowed to take part after she nailed a boy in the face with a dodgeball.

The boy had _earned_ that bloody nose. Ruby had seen him pick on a faunus girl every lunch.

History was a bit of a challenge. Who wants to know what old people did? Ruby seriously tried to stay focused, but all the teacher did was make them read from the book. Bor-ing!

And in language class, the teacher had stopped calling on her when she asked about some words Yang used. Ruby had no idea why the teacher had turned white, then red, before running out.

She seriously didn't know what castrate or those other words meant!

When school was finally over, Ruby dashed out of History class and raced to her dad's yellow car, opening the back door and jumping in. Freedom at last!

"Hey, Rubes. How was school?"

"Boring. I already know all of the math stuff, and I still have to sit out during P.E."

"What about history?" He didn't ask about language class. Ever since he learned what happened in language class, he had avoided the topic like the plague. So had Yang.

So, of course, Ruby _still_ didn't know what "castrate" or "getting a room" meant. Or those other words. What _did_ "turn on" mean?

"It was ok. We're learning about the Valian Civil War, and how General Ironwood - the first one, not the one alive today - captured Fort Trist."

Tai frowned. "Is that appropriate for kiddos your age? After all, the General chopped off the heads of the sick and threw them over the city walls to make the defenders sick, which wound up causing an epidemic. I'm not sure they should be teaching that in grade school." As if! It was a cool idea - if a bit weird and disgusting.

"It's alright." Ruby said cheerily. "Only six people in the class had to use the bathroom. I think they were throwing up."

The car was silent the rest of the way home.

* * *

Of course, Ruby had combat training right after school (why hadn't she moved it to the evening when it was cooler?) so she pulled her scythe out of the closet and begun swinging it around the clearing in front of her house.

She must of been at it for hours before Yang and Jaune finally showed up, returning from school. Yang's hair, despite her usual care for it, was disheveled, and one of her eyes looked like it was going to become a black eye the next day, but she looked extremely happy.

"Rubes!"

"Yang?" Ruby questioned, eyeing her sister's appearance. "What happened to you?"

"Dad was right!" She laughed. "Jaune is really good with a scythe! Best sparring partner ever!"

Yup, her sister was crazy. "Are you ok?"

"I even had a few rounds with him after school! Best way to get the adrenaline going! I wanna fight someone!" she cheered.

"No, she's not ok. She's also exaggerating." Jaune answered. They watched as Yang ran inside the house, probably to drag Tai out for a spar.

They stood there in silence for a while, before Ruby finally said, "Soo... you have a scythe?"

Jaune rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah. Wanna see it?"

"YES!" cried Ruby. "Showmeshowmeshowmeshowmeshowme-"

"Ok, ok," Jaune held his hands up in a placating manner. "Give me a second."

He slipped Crocea Mors into his hand. The first thing Ruby noticed was that the color scheme had changed, and the sword was now red where it had formerly been gold. Jaune pulled the guard back (there was a hinge that Ruby hadn't seen there before). The hilt lengthened, and out of the side of the sheath sprung blades, forming a spear - and then the spearpoint spun, then cracked and bent, forming the curved shape of a scythe. Out of the side of the handle sprung a slot, in which Jaune slipped a gun - an Atlesian Model 200 SMG - inside, which settled with a click.

"Oooh." Ruby looked on with awestruck eyes. "Can I hold it?"

"WAIT ONE SEC!" Yang burst out the door, scaring Ruby into letting out a startled "eep!" and Jaune into dropping his weapon. "I wanna fight him again! Fight me! Rematch!" Why wasn't Ruby surprised at Yang's actions?

Right. Yang was a battle nut. Ruby learned that a while ago.

"O...k...?"

Poor Jaune.

* * *

Ruby sat on a tree stump as she watched the two prepare to fight. Jaune took a simple, one foot forward, one food back, scythe blade forward stance, while Yang got in a boxer's stance.

"The first one to be down to 30% loses." Ruby called. "Ready... Start!"

Yang burst forward, her shotgun rounds increasing her speed. Jaune, however, performed the opposite reaction, shooting backwards and away from Yang while spraying her with bullets. The Dustpad in her hands showed that Yang was down to 97%.

Yang did not give up. She continued to push him backward, subtly maneuvering to the side until the house was behind him. When he bumped into the wall, she performed another leap.

Jaune rolled to the side, just barely going under Yang's fist, before swinging the scythe at Yang. It landed with a solid thunk.

68%

 _Yang's losing badly_. Ruby was surprised. Yang had always been exceptional at fighting, and here, Jaune had yet to take a hit!

Of course, Yang also had her semblance, which she hadn't used yet.

Jaune threw himself backward and away from Yang's counterattack by firing another series of shots. Yang answered in kind, launching shots from Ember Celica until the click of spent rounds could be heard. A few shots seemed to just barely miss Jaune.

Suddenly, Jaune went on the offensive, following slice with another slice, preventing Yang from reloading. Yang attempted to backpedal, but Jaune would use Crocea Mors' superior reach and curved blade to yank Yang back. Yang then lashed out with a fist, which Jaune casually batted aside with the shaft of his weapon before continuing the assault.

60%

51%

42%

Yang's aura took hit after hit - until Yang decided that she had enough. With a scream of rage, her semblance flared, and she caught Crocea Mors mid-swing. She flung him aside, and he hit a tree, going straight through it.

93%

Ruby was amazed. Both at the fight, and at Jaune's aura level. A regular huntsman would probably lose around 25% of their aura from a hit like that, but Jaune only took 7%. Then again, aura varied from person to person.

Still, it was really cool! How they went HYAH and WATCHA and-

Jaune emerged from the dust, but with Crocea Mors as a sword and shield instead. When Yang charged forward, he diverted her fist to his left with his shield, striking her with the sword before quickly retreating. Yang dashed forward again, and when he tried to perform the same trick again, she did a complete spin, smashing the shield to the side and landing another punch straight at Jaune. He took the hit, flying backwards.

90%

Yang jumped on the fallen Jaune and brutally bashed him over and over. Unlike the situation Jaune had put her in earlier, however, she was on a time limit. Her semblance began to flicker, and her aura was at 23% from her semblance use.

It was 23% to 44%.

Without Yang's semblance, Jaune through her off, before sheathing Crocea Mors, neatly activating Crocea Mors' shifting mechanism and throwing it at her mid-shift.

Yang was hit in the head by the spearpoint. She just laid on her back, tired.

18% to 44%

"Eh... Jaune wins?" Ruby tentatively supplied.

* * *

 **Just wanted to do Ruby's point of view. Very little plot progression, if any.**

 **I had this sitting around for a while... should have finished it earlier. School's a pain.**


End file.
